Telling It Like It Is

THE ENTERPRISE--SOME THINGS TO THINK HARD ABOUT…AND UNDERSTAND

 

 

WHY IS THE STOCK MARKET SO HIGH IF THE ECONOMY ISN'T DOING VERY WELL?

It turns out that the economy is not doing well, but it is doing better than most of the other developed economies in the world. Thus money looking for a place to be invested comes to the good old USA. Bonds are no longer so safe.  China's growth has slowed. Brazil's has stopped.  India is flailing about, neither growing nor booming more economically attractive. Europe is in recession or close to it. Double digit unemployment is common over there.  And they work about 2 weeks a year less than people in the USA. Well run companies are staffed by management who quickly learns to "play be the rules in effect," and make money where they can and if that happens to be outside the USA, leave it there so it doesn't get double taxed when it is brought back to the US. Since it is over there, it gets invested over there. 

 

IF THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS SO LOW, WHY ARE WAGES GOING UP MORE?

Because all of the measures of unemployment are so flawed, so distorted and so misleading that we would be better off without them. I could take this whole edition and regale you with all the flaws in what the BLS uses to calculate its unemployment numbers. The problem is that people who have jobs are unwilling to take a risk of long them by either demanding more money (which competition being what it is--intense--employers will refuse), or look or go elsewhere and discover that job is less secure, or risk being replaced by temps, or in some areas illegal immigrants. Thus wage increases crawl along at about a 2% increase per year…about the same as the growth rate of the economy over Obama's 6 years.

 

WHAT CAN COMPANIES DO TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL?

The basic formula has never changed.  Serve customers superbly.  Offer them great value for their money. Deliver quality products and services. Innovate with new and batter solution to nagging problems and find opportunities that no one has noticed. (Who knew you need an iPad? Or a phone the size of a folded newspaper? Or web enabled everything, from starting your car to controlling your lights and HVAC at home.)

 

How to do this? Hire better people. Get rid of losers, because they drag everyone else down. Pay the good ones a bit more (and the best even more) and treat them a lot better than other employers. Get them excited about what they do by getting them involved in the plans about what to do. Nothing like a little ownership--literal or figurative--to energize employees. Praise them when they do well, criticize them constructively when they don't, and don't forget to say Thank You more often than you need to. Listen to them when they try to tell you what's working, what's not, and what to do about that. They know. No need to hire a high priced consultant to listen to them and then tell you what they said.

 

Make sure they all know where the money they help make is going, and that some of it finds its way into their pockets. Explain where the rest goes: to shareholders, to pay down debt, to buy new equipment or facilities, or to keep in a  "rainy day fund" called retained earnings, for the times when things don't go so well, and a safety net is necessary. Communicate with everyone, often, honestly and in more ways than you do now. Top executives may communicate the same things so many times, they get tired of doing it, but each audience only hears it once.  Finally, "Walk your talk" and tell the truth, even when it's ugly. You owe it to them.

 

WONDER WHY OUR GOVERNMENT IS A MESS. CONSIDER THE "BOSS" AT THE TOP, AND HIS VERACITY!

Someone did this because they thought it was ironic, funny or newsworthy. What really is—is sad, tragic and inexcusable. And by the way, I bet the lists for these earlier presidents would be longer if they endured the 24/7/365 always on news cycles with video camera phone in everyone's hands.  Obama is just the best (worst) liar in recent years, and it's mostly because he doesn't know what to do or how to do it, so he has to distort the facts to avoid taking the blame for that.  Too bad so many poor Americans voted for him (twice!)

 

WHAT WILL THE NEW GOP CONTROLLED CONGRESS BE ABLE TO GET DONE?

Not as much as you might hope since the guy in the White House still has his brand new VETO pen, and his EXECUTIVE ACTIONS. The best thing this Congress could do is to act like mature grown ups who realize that nobody gets their way, all the way, all the time. The key is in working together for the good of the country, dealing with the big issues, and challenging the president to veto well-thought out, (hopefully even bi-partisan) new legislation. 

 

HERE'S S STARTER TOP ELEVEN LIST TO WORK ON:

 

1. JOB CREATION--LOWER REGULATIONS; FOCUS JOB TRAINING & EDUCATION TO PUT PEOPLE TO WORK
2. IMMIGRATION--A MEASURED APPROACH, "EARNED AMNESTY," A SECURE, REGISTERED IDENTIFICATION CARD
3. TAX REFORM--SIMPLIFY, CLOSE SPECIAL-INTEREST LOOPHOLES, LOWER RATES, ESPECIALLY ON CAPITAL GAINS 
4. FOREIGN POLICY--REGAIN US RESPECT IN THE WORLD; THWART TERRORIST/ROGUE COUNTRIES
5. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY (IN SPENDING)--IF NEED TO UNEXPECTEDLY SPEND MORE, CUT SOMEWHERE ELSE
6. CHANGE WELFARE TO WORKFARE--IN FACT, NOT IN TALK—NO CHECK WITHOUT DOING "SOMETHING" FOR IT
7. ENTITLEMENTS--CHIP AWAY AT THEM, START WITH FRAUD AND WASTE; USE SIMPLE INDEXING FOR AGE AND COLA
8. EDUCATION--FOCUS ON RESULTS, & EMPLOYABILITY; REWARD GOOD TEACHERS AND REPLACE BAD ONES--FAST
9. ENERGY--COMPLETE US ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FROM OUR ENEMIES…THEN WORK ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
10. HEALTH CARE--MODIFY THE ACA, CARVE OUT THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, DEFUND THE BAD
11. REVERSE THE LAWS THAT CREATED AGENCIES THAT WERE UNACCOUNTABLE TO CONGRESS FOR SPENDING:
1. THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, 
2. THE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD.

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WHAT'S UNDER CONTROL?NOTHING AT ALL EXCEPT CREATING MESSES AND SCANDALS

 

 

 

FROM A CORRESPONDENT:

 

Famous Presidential Lies Contest:

LBJ:

• We were attacked (in the Gulf of Tonkin)

 

Nixon:

• I am not a crook

 

GHW Bush:

• Read my lips - No New Taxes

 

Clinton:

• I did not have sex with that woman... Miss Lewinsky

 

GW Bush:

• Iraq has weapons of mass destruction

 

Obama:

• I will have the most transparent administration in history. 
• The stimulus will fund shovel-ready jobs. 
• I am focused like a laser on creating jobs. 
• The IRS is not targeting anyone. 
• It was a spontaneous riot about a movie. 
• I will put an end to the type of politics that "breeds division, conflict and cynicism". 
• You didn't build that! 
• I will restore trust in Government. 
• The Cambridge cops acted stupidly. 
• The public will have 5 days to look at every bill that lands on my desk 
• It's not my red line - it is the world's red line. 
• Whistle blowers will be protected in my administration. 
• We got back every dime we used to rescue the banks and auto companies, with interest. 
• I am not spying on American citizens. 
• Obama Care will be good for America. 
• You can keep your family doctor. 
• Premiums will be lowered by $2500. 
• If you like it, you can keep your current healthcare plan. 
• It's just like shopping at Amazon. 
• I knew nothing about "Fast and Furious" gunrunning to Mexican drug cartels. 
• I knew nothing about IRS targeting conservative groups. 
• I knew nothing about what happened in Benghazi. 
• I have never known my uncle from Kenya who is in the country illegally and that was arrested and told to leave the country over 20 years ago. 
• And, I have never lived with that uncle.  He finally admitted (12-05-2013) that he DID know his uncle and that he DID live with him. 
• If elected I promise not to renew the Patriot Act. 
• If elected I will end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan within the 1st 9 months of my term. 
• I will close Guantanamo within the first 6 months of my term. 
• I will bridge the gap between black and white and between America and other countries.

And the biggest one of all:

• "I, Barrack Hussein Obama, pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."

 

I believe we have a winner

====================

FROM A CORRESPONDENT:

 

A Country Founded by Geniuses but Run by Idiots
(SOURCE UNKNOWN--Not Jeff Foxworthy which was the attribution sent to me.)

If plastic water bottles are okay, but plastic bags are banned, — you might live in a nation (state) that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots WE DO LIVE IN SUCH A DUMB COUNTRY!!

If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for entering and remaining in the country illegally — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.
 
If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or to take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If you MUST show your identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book and rent a video, but not to vote for who runs the government — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If the government wants to prevent stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds, but gives twenty F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If, in the nation’s largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not one 24-ounce soda, because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If an 80-year-old woman who is confined to a wheelchair or a three-year-old girl can be strip-searched by the TSA at the airport, but a woman in a burka or a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher is “cute” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government regulation and intrusion while not working is rewarded with Food Stamps, WIC checks, Medicaid benefits, subsidized housing, and free cell phones — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If you pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big-screen TV, while your neighbor buys iPhones, time shares, a wall-sized do-it-all plasma screen TV and new cars, and the government forgives his debt when he defaults on his mortgage — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If being stripped of your Constitutional right to defend yourself makes you more “safe” according to the government — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

====================

OK…THAT'S ENOUGH FOR ONE EDITION

HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING TO ALL…

 

JOHN

 

---------------------------

John Mariotti

Go see my latest articles and commentary at http://www.brennerbrief.com/author/johnmariotti/ and at 

http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/ and http://www.mariotti.net 

 

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THE ENTERPRISE--THE GOP AGENDA: DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

 

 

Please feel free to pass this on to others to share with their elected officials.

 

A LETTER I SENT TO A COUPLE OF REPRESENTATIVES (my Congressman Pat Tiberi and Steve Stivers—the one 'next door') 

AND SENATORS PORTMAN & RUBIO 

 

I know you are all busy...and probably read the Columbus Dispatch too, so maybe including these Opinion columns is redundant. But maybe not!  I'd really like to be able to get the big idea to John Boehner, and I suspect you have his ear, so you can pass it on.

 

Everyone is writing about "the GOP chance to govern". I'd like to prompt you, John, Mitch McConnell and every other GOP member of Congress to preempt a line from Obama and use it over and over...."We are just trying to ... do what's best for the American people!" 

 

This is how you ATTACK Obama's resistance. Essential is a de-facto accusation that he is opposing things that are "….best for the American people." GOP plans to "...do what's best for the American people."

 

The George Will piece is well focused on things to try getting done, although Obama may veto such attempts. This is a good test to see whether enough Senate Democrats will help override such a veto and (you know the phrase):  "...do what's best for the American people!"

 

Whether you can actually accomplish these important steps is an open question. That you should try to, is indisputable. The first two items on Will's list are unconstitutional abominations, but why wait for years to get SCOTUS to rule...after the damage has been done.  "Blow them away!" Or at least try to!

 

The EJ Dionne piece is very thought provoking, in that he (almost) prescribes a course for GOP success in 2016. First get good candidates...people who "stir the emotions" (how does a Christie-Rubio combo strike you?) and represent well thought out policy positions and diversity to (you know the phrase)..."...do what's best for the American people."

 

 Then get all GOPers behind a simple agenda of a few big, worthy goals (5-6, no more), all tested against the phrase!

 

MY LIST OF GOP GOALS: top 6

1. Tax reform & simplification (including eliminating the Obamacare medical devices tax)
2. Energy independence (including the Keystone pipeline and Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility)
3. Jobs and economic growth (education folds in here)
4. Regulatory reduction (too many to note...start anywhere and whack.  EPA is a good place to start.)
5. Immigration reform/control (is there any way to block Obama's latest planned mass exemption for illegals)
6. Governmental competence & accountability (no more excuses, no more finger pointing, blame placing and ignorance of the facts)

 

Wrap all of them in a bundle of emphasis on "states rights" and "human rights"--using The Bill of Rights as a guide...always to (that phrase again) "...do what's best for the American people."

 

Ok...I've gone on too long.  If you want to discuss this idea in person, please contact me. I'm available when you are!

John

 

The Republican Party: Doing what's best for the American people!

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Republicans should put these items at top of agenda

by George F. Will

Unlike the dog that chased the car until, to its consternation, he caught it, Republicans know what do with what they have caught. Having completed their capture of control of the legislative branch, they should start with the following six measures concerning practical governance and constitutional equilibrium:

• Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This creature of the labyrinthine Dodd-Frank law violates John Locke’s dictum: “The legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands. … The power of the legislative … (is) only to make laws, and not to make legislators.” The bureau is empowered to “declare,” with no legislative guidance or institutional inhibitions, that certain business practices are “abusive.” It also embodies progressivism’s authoritarianism by being, unlike any entity Congress has created since 1789, untethered from all oversight mechanisms: Its funding, “determined by the director,” comes from the Federal Reserve.

• Repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board. This expression of the progressive mind is an artifact of the Affordable Care Act and may be the most anti-constitutional measure ever enacted. It certainly violates the first words of the first section of the first article of the Constitution: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress.” The board’s purported function is to achieve the Affordable Care Act’s purpose of cost containment by reducing Medicare spending. When the board’s 15 presidential appointees make what the act calls a “legislative proposal” limiting reimbursements to doctors, this proposal automatically becomes law unless Congress passes a similar measure cutting Medicare spending. Under this constitutional travesty, an executive-branch agency makes laws unless the legislative branch enacts alternative means of achieving the executive agency’s aim. The Affordable Care Act stipulates that no measure for the abolition of the board can be introduced before 2017 or after Feb. 1, 2017, and must be enacted by Aug. 15 of that year. So, one Congress presumed to bind all subsequent Congresses in order to achieve progressivism’s consistent aim

— abolishing limited government by emancipating presidents from restraint by the separation of powers. This impertinence by the 111th Congress requires a firm rebuke by the 114th.

• Repeal the Affordable Care Act’s tax on medical devices. This $29 billion blow to an industry that provides more than 400,000 jobs is levied not on firms’ profits but on gross revenues and comes on top of the federal (the developed world’s highest) corporate income tax, plus state and local taxes. Enough Democrats support repeal that a presidential veto might be overridden.

• Improve energy, economic and environmental conditions by authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would reduce the risk of spills by reducing the transportation of oil in railroad tankers.

• Mandate completion of the nuclear waste repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. The signature achievement of Harry Reid’s waning career has been blocking this project, on which approximately $15 billion has been spent. So, rather than nuclear waste being safely stored in the mountain’s 40 miles of tunnels 1,000 feet underground atop 1,000 feet of rock, more than 160 million Americans live within 75 miles of one or more of the 121 locations where 70,000 tons of waste are stored.

• Pass the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. It would require that any regulation with at least a $100 million annual impact on the economy — there are approximately 200 of them in the pipeline — must be approved without amendments by joint resolution of Congress and signed by the president. “In effect,” writes the Hudson Institute’s Christopher DeMuth, “major agency rules would become legislative proposals with fast-track privileges.” By requiring legislative complicity in especially heavy federal burdens, REINS is an ingredient in the recipe for resuscitating Congress, which has been far too eager to cede legislative responsibilities to the executive branch.

Such measures may be too granular to satisfy the grandiose aspirations of those conservatives who, sharing progressives’ impatience with our constitutional architecture, aspire to have their way completely while wielding just one branch of government. But if, as is likely, the result of Congress doing these and similar things is a blizzard of presidential vetoes, even this would be constructive. The 2016 presidential election would follow a two-year demonstration of how reactionary progressivism is in opposing changes to the nation’s trajectory. Congressional actions provoking executive rejections would frame the argument about progressivism. And as Margaret Thatcher advised, first you win the argument, then you win the vote.

 

George F. Will writes for the Washington Post Writers Group. [email protected]
m

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THIS PIECE BY NORMALLY LEFT-LEANING E. J. DIONNE is worthy of a lot of thought:

 

DEMOCRATS CANT JUST SHRUG OFF THIS LANDSLIDE LOSS

For Democrats, the 2014 election was not the 2010 Republican landslide. It was worse.

Four years ago, the economy was still ailing and a new wave of conservative activism in the form of the tea party was roiling politics. This time, the economy was better, ideological energies on the right had abated — and Democrats suffered an even-more-stinging defeat. They lost Senate seats in presidential swing states such as Iowa, Colorado and North Carolina. They lost governorships in their most loyal bastions, from Massachusetts to Maryland to Illinois.

After a defeat of this scope, the sensible advice is usually, “Don’t overreact.” In this case, such advice would be wrong. Something — actually, many things — went badly for the progressive coalition on Tuesday. Its supporters were disheartened and unmotivated, failing to rally to President Barack Obama and his party’s beleaguered candidates. And voters on the fence were left unpersuaded.

A dismissive shrug is inappropriate.

If Democrats are tempted to seek alibis, Republicans want to read the outcome as a vindication for their strategy of obstruction to Obama’s program and a ratification of right-wing ideology. As The New Yorker’s Jeff Shesol pointed out, leading Republicans from incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Sen.-elect Cory Gardner to Rep. Paul Ryan all discerned a message from the voters against what Ryan called “incompetent big government.”

To make the argument, they can cite the victories of two of their most ideologically driven governors, Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Sam Brownback in Kansas. Both won re-election despite a backlash against their policies. North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis survived a similar backlash to defeat Sen. Kay Hagan.

Yet the one thing that will save the Democrats and ignite progressives will be a Republican Party that ignores the extent to which its candidates

— notably Gardner in Colorado and Sen.-elect Joni Ernst in Iowa — had to tack away from the right to win their signal victories.

The nation plainly did not vote in favor of more gridlock. Republicans will throw away the opportunity they have been handed if they mistake the general dissatisfaction with Obama’s leadership that they exploited for a specific turn to right-wing remedies. Many of Tuesday’s ballot issues were won by progressives. It’s instructive that four deeply red states, Alaska, Nebraska, Arkansas and South Dakota, all voted to raise the minimum wage.

Moreover, as Bill Clinton showed after the Democrats’ 1994 midterm defeat, the surest way to beat conservatives is to confront them when they press for steep cuts in government programs that voters like. Clinton’s mantra defending “Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment” was revealing and successful. If Republicans move to repeal Obamacare — a cause they used to mobilize their base — the GOP will only remind Americans of the many parts of the Affordable Care Act they want to retain.

Republicans need to remember: The electorate that turns out at midterms is demographically narrower than the pool of voters who elect presidents. To claim a sweeping mandate now will get in the way of creating a real one in 2016.

Yet Democrats and Obama can’t simply blame defeat on an inevitable falloff in their midterm vote. They failed to give the faithful enough reason to cast a ballot.

Amy Walter of National Journal cited a Republican operative: “You can’t win on turnout if you are losing on message.”

Democrats had pieces of an economic message. But they need a comprehensive and more-ambitious answer for voters angry about stagnating incomes. They took out their rage on the party in the White House.

For Obama, there is no escaping the urgency of restoring energy to his administration and confidence in his leadership. He should begin by focusing on the travails of Americans — including blue-collar whites as well as traditional members of his coalition

— for whom neither the economy nor the government seems to be working. They’re the ones who keep sending Washington desperate messages, both by voting and by staying home.

E.J. Dionne writes for the Washington Post Writers Group. [email protected]

 

---------------------------

John Mariotti

Go see my latest articles and commentary at http://www.brennerbrief.com/author/johnmariotti/ and at 

http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/ and http://www.mariotti.net 

 

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THE ENTERPRISE--AN ELECTION ON AMERICA'S FUTURE

 

 

ELECTION DAY IS TUESDAY--BE SURE TO VOTE

I promised share name of people who deserve to be reelected:
In OHIO:
John Kasich & Mary Taylor--Kasich has done a great job as governor and Ohio will greatly benefit from another 4 years of his leadership.
Others who have done great jobs since ring elected four years ago are:
Auditor Dave Yost
Secretary of State Jon Husted
Attorney General Mike DeWine

Treasurer Josh Mandel

(You can read more about why they deserve reelection in the Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, Sept. 28.)
The incumbents running for Judge positions also deserve reelection for their fine work!
 

State Senator Frank LaRose deserves a strong reelection vote.  

 

IN WEST VIRGINIA:

Dolph Santorine-- great guy, great candidate, good friend.

NATIONALLY:
On the national level, Columbus and Ohio are lucky to have excellent Congressional representation by Pat Tiberi and Steve Stivers. While they are favored to win, they need every vote we can get out for them, to solidify their position and support. 

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Election Day is TUESDAY!

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BE SURE TO VOTE--UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE--AND TAKE ALONG ANY ONE ELSE YOU KNOW THAT NEEDS A LITTLE PERSUASION TO GET OUT AND VOTE! (Adult children, relatives, neighbors, elderly who might have difficulty getting out, etc.)

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NATIONAL POLITICS ARE SIMPLER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK

FOR EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN A STATE WITH A CLOSELY CONTESTED SENATE RACE

Consider this fact" Every one of the Democratic Senatorial candidates who are so vigorously explaining why their policies are not the same as the failed policies of President Obama voted in support of Obama's policies 95-99% of the time since they have been in office. It sort of makes you wonder how they could support the Obama policy agenda so totally, UNTIL IT'S TIME TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION… and then suddenly, they are not in agreement with Obama on so many issues. 

 

MY ADVICE: DON'T BELIEVE THEM--VOTE FOR THEIR REPUBLICAN OPPONENT. At least you can be confident that they don't agree with Obama's misguided policies. 

 

HERE'S WHY THE PRESIDENT SEEMS TO BE OBLIVIOUS AND/OR SURPRISED SO OFTEN (or says he is!)

Subject: Report: Obama Has Missed over Half His Second-Term Daily Intel Briefings

 

A new Government Accountability Institute (GAI) report reveals that President Barack Obama has attended only 42.1% of his daily intelligence briefings (known officially as the Presidential Daily Brief, or PDB) in the 2,079 days of his presidency through September 29, 2014.
The GAI report also included a breakdown of Obama’s PDB attendance record between terms; he attended 42.4% of his PDBs in his first term and 41.3% in his second.
The GAI’s alarming findings come on the heels of Obama’s 60 Minutes comments on Sunday, wherein the president laid the blame for the Islamic State’s (ISIS) rapid rise squarely at the feet of his Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
“I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” said Obama.
According to Daily Beast reporter Eli Lake, members of the Defense establishment were “flabbergasted” by Obama’s attempt to shift blame.
“Either the president doesn’t read the intelligence he’s getting or he’s bullshitting,” a former senior Pentagon official “who worked closely on the threat posed by Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq” told the Daily Beast.
On Monday, others in the intelligence community similarly blasted Obama and said he’s shown longstanding disinterest in receiving live, in-person PDBs that allow the Commander-in-Chief the chance for critical followup, feedback, questions, and the challenging of flawed intelligence assumptions.
“It's pretty well-known that the president hasn’t taken in-person intelligence briefings with any regularity since the early days of 2009,” an Obama national security staffer told the Daily Mail on Monday. “He gets them in writing.”
The Obama security staffer said the president’s PDBs have contained detailed threat warnings about the Islamic State dating back to before the 2012 presidential election.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/29/Report-Obama-Has-Missed-Over-Half-His-Second-Term-Daily-Intel-Briefings

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IS THERE ANY GOOD NEWS?

Maybe. Republican candidates are narrowly favored to win enough seats to re-take the Senate control…but just barely.  It won't be enough to stop Obama's imperial presidency from legislating from the Oval Office. It could slow or derail his judicial nominees, and even force a more reasonable replacement for Obama's hatchet man, attorney general Eric Holder. A GOP controlled Congress would force Obama to show his true colors by vetoing much needed legislation. Some 300 House originated bills are piled up ahead of the Senate--stopped by Harry Reid so Senators seeking reelection wouldn't need to explain their actions honestly. Nor would Obama be forced to show his true beliefs.

 

HERE'S WHY AMERICA NEEDS SECURE VOTER ID CARDS WITH PICTURES

Want to vote illegally in NC?  Come on in . . . no problem!  The more the merrier. (NC is one of 20 states that requires no voter ID.) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhjq6y1frPQ

 

This kind of thing was rampant during the last Presidential campaign. Right here in Columbus, Somalians were brought to early voting by the van load, with interpreters and the flimsiest of IDs (e.g., Utility bills with their address on them.)

 

Maybe in addition to securing our borders, we should secure our VOTING BOOTHS!

 

The Democrats have been filing one lawsuit after another to block voter ID laws that have been passed by numerous states.  Even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has used the full power of the Justice Department to protect his boss’s plans to steal re-election by legally challenging any voter law that would stop voter fraud.

But has anyone ever taken a close look at the whole issue of voter ID and what other things in life already require an ID?

• DMV – You are required to have some form of identification to obtain a driver’s license in most states.
• Airports – Try boarding a commercial flight these days without a photo ID.
• Hospitals – Most hospitals require some form of ID for any out-patient or in-patient procedure.  The last time I ended up at the emergency room, they were still asking me for my ID.
• Pharmacy – We have to show our driver’s license just to purchase over-the-counter sinus medication like Co-Advil, let alone a prescription.
• Blood Donation – Everyone I know that has donated blood has had to present their ID before being accepted.
• Banks – Many banks require some form of ID to carry out any transaction except perhaps making a deposit.
• Writing a Check – Most stores want a driver’s license or some other photo ID in order to cash a check or even pay for a purchase with a check.
• Using Credit Cards – I have been in some stores that have asked to see a driver’s license or some other form of ID before they would accept my credit card.
• Gun Shop – Right!  Try buying a gun or ammunition without a driver’s license or any other form of ID.
• Social Security Office – They require ID to verify who you are before they will even entertain paying you any benefits.  To obtain SSI Disability requires ID plus a ton of documentation, yet many poor and minority people manage to obtain SSI Disability coverage.
• Pawn Shop – Laws have tightened up so much on pawn shops to prevent them from purchasing stole property that pawn shops require a form of ID, preferably a photo.
• Jail – Most cities, counties, and states require some form of ID before they book someone into jail.
• Courts – Most courts require an ID in order for you conduct any form of business with them.
• Unemployment – Most unemployment offices require an ID before paying benefits.
• Public Schools – Many schools require any non-student to present an ID at the office before being allowed to visit the school for any reason.  I use to be a meter reader for an electric company and always had to go to the office first and show my ID before being allowed to OUR electric boxes.
• Adoption Agency – It is almost impossible to adopt a child without an ID and a stack of other information.
• Parole & Probation – Most people placed on parole or probation are required to have an ID when they check in with their court appointed handlers.
• Auto Insurance – You are required to have an ID in order to obtain auto insurance.
• Traffic Stop – In most states you are required to present your driver’s license, proof of insurance and vehicle registration if you are pulled for by a police officer.
• Passport – You have to produce an original birth certificate and photo in order to obtain a U.S. passport.  (Makes you wonder how Barack Obama obtained a valid passport.)
• Post Office – I’ve had to show a photo ID to pick up packages at the Post Office.

The list probably goes on for page after page, but I hope you get the idea.  However the Democrats say that requiring an ID for voting is unconstitutional and discriminating.  The ironic part of this is that most unions are Democratic supporters and they require an ID for all union voting, but they are against requiring an ID to vote in local, state and federal elections.

If requiring an ID to vote is discriminatory and unconstitutional, they why is it legal to require an ID for all of these other things in life?

Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/7374/why-is-photo-id-required-for-everything-except-to-vote/#fP0fGYyjv5WXwAX7.99

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THERE ARE A NUMBER OF STRANGE ECONOMIC PARADOXES RIGHT NOW

The stock market corrected downward in the past couple of weeks, and is now coming back up. Why? Because there is nowhere better to put your money. The best advice is to not panic-sell during downturns. Do your homework; get good financial advice; then hang on. The market almost always comes back up after such corrections. It might take months or even years, but many ill-advised Americans sold their holdings during the big downturn in 2007-8 and then couldn't or didn't have the good sense to go right back in and enjoy the recovery.

 

Sound advice: Buy low; sell high.  Do NOT Sell low; and buy high! If you make sound investment decisions, with the best advice you can find or get, then hang in there.

 

IS A "HUMBUG" CHRISTMAS COMING? MAYBE & MAYBE NOT!

THE ECONOMY GROWS, BUT FLAT SALES AFFLICT AMERICA'S LEADING COMPANIES

If you haven’t been tracking the news closely, growth in the US for the 3Q was 3.5%, but you might not realize that four of the largest and most iconic American companies have stalled with multiple quarters of flat revenues. That’s right. Walmart, IBM, McDonald’s, and Coke have stopped growing! Depending on the company, the flat sales have endured for well over a year, in fact, up to ten quarters in a row for IBM. An exhaustive search of other large and well-known companies would extend this list to about 1/3 of the Fortune 500! 

P & G, an American icon, grew at a puny 1%. It is preparing to divest 100 brands from ititss company, leaving the 75-80 strongest. While this is a great idea for P & G, it is another warning. Lack of revenue growth bad for the companies’ shareholders, many of which are pension funds. It’s bad for America. Moreover, it signals a sea change in the issue of whether “bigger is better.”

 

Being big is not all it’s cracked up to be. For huge companies like Walmart or McDonald's to show significant growth means their must quarterly sales gains that are as large as smaller competitors entire annual revenues.  Those sales have to come from somewhere, and consumers are still anxious, cautious and downright concerned. 

The average income of American households has plummeted in the past 6 years. (see chart below)  It is inevitable that when incomes drop, and people are worried, they spend less. The largest companies suffer. Add to that the woes of a recession in Europe, and slowing growth in China, and the problem rapidly becomes a global one.

I know you have probably seen the chart before, but it tells a lot of stories.  People whose incomes drop must spend less to make ends meet. That means they buy less or buy lower priced goods, which in turn lowers the revenue of major companies. When those companies are revenue constrained, they also spend less to preserve their earnings, which means their suppliers get less revenue. This is Barack Obama's legacy, and the legacy of all his Democratic allies (and in fact, his constituents).

 

Ironically, this "flat, low growth economy" hurts Obama's biggest supporters the most--the lower and low-middle income Americans. The more tax money he takes from all Americans to support his deficit-funded welfare state, the less there is to spend wisely, and at their own discretion or to invest in wealth-producing alternatives. IF this lower income third (which is heavily minorities) of American society continues to support Obama's policies (and the many Congressional candidates who have supported his policies in recent years) America will continue to languish, and the suffering will get worse, not better. What a sad situation.

 

There are only two solutions: the first opportunity comes next Tuesday. Elect people who oppose Obama's policies. Reject candidates who have been supporting the Obama policy agenda (Every Democratic Senate candidate in closely contested races voted  95-99% with Obama's wishes). Leopards do not change their spots, and liberals do not turn conservative except during election time.

 

The second opportunity is two years away--the 2016 presidential elections. Do not be fooled by Hillary Clinton! She will not make things better, because she is, at heart, still a Democrat. Her policies and actions may be different, but any improvement will be minuscule. (The same applies if she loses to another liberal Democrat in the primaries.) In the next two years, much more will be revealed about Hillary's failings, her mistakes, her many character flaws.

 

Meanwhile, the US economy struggles to exceed 2% growth  Only after consumers scrimp and save for 2-3 quarters, can they spend at Christmas time (can I even call it that, or are the liberal-secularists going to ban that very word?). Even Amazon, the huge on-line retailer is not tripping over its own spending policy. It is spending so much, so far ahead of revenues that it is still losing money--at a higher rate than expected. You can only "buy market share" for so long.  Eventually you must "pay the piper" for what you have chosen to spend.  This admonition applies equally to Jeff Bezos of amazon, and for Barack Obama and his Democratic allies.

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS CAN STILL BE OK…NOT A BLOCKBUSTER, BUT OK.

Consumers will spend. They always do. Lower gas prices have put more money in their pockets. Perhaps this Christmas coming on the heels of an election outcome that provides hope for better Congressional action, will turn the tide.  I sure hope so.

 

FOR NOW…LET'S ALL FOCUS ON WINNING THE ELECTIONS ON TUESDAY. 

Then we can go about beginning the work of "fixing America."

 

JOHN

 

 

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John Mariotti

Go see my latest articles and commentary at http://www.brennerbrief.com/author/johnmariotti/ and at 

http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/ and http://www.mariotti.net 

 

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